Then and Now: Andy Reid and the Decay of the Eagles

Then and Now: Andy Reid and the Decay of the Eagles

We could reasonably divide Andy Reid’s 14-year tenure in
Philadelphia into four distinct periods. First the early years, when the Eagles ascended from bottom
feeder to legitimate threat in a matter of two seasons. Then came a stretch of
conference dominance that was marked by four consecutive trips to the NFC Title
game and a Super Bowl. That in turn was followed by the post-T.O. plateau, an
era where a veteran-Birds team was still considered a perennial contender for another four or five seasons.

Finally we reached the decline, which began in earnest once
the front office started dumping those veterans that had helped bring the
franchise so much success, choosing instead to retool on the fly.

Some say the decline began after the Eagles reached the
Super Bowl. True, they missed the playoffs in two of the next three seasons.
However, they followed both of those campaigns with deep tournament runs, making
it to the Divisional Round of the playoffs with Jeff Garcia in 2006, and most
notably, their fifth NFC Championship in 2008. They were 11-5 in ’09 as well,
so an injury-riddled ’05 and a .500 finish in ’07 look like the real outliers in that bunch.

That was always the thing about Andy’s teams. He had plenty
of faults, several of which seemed to rear their ugly head at the most
inopportune moments. Yet somehow, his teams had a chance to win it all every
year.

Until suddenly they didn’t anymore, of course.

Reid oversaw the decline every step of the way, which can be
traced back to the offseason immediately following that most recent conference
championship loss. Brian Dawkins, Jon Runyan, and Tra Thomas all left via free
agency, Lito Sheppard was traded, and Jim Johnson passed later that summer.
That was only the beginning – the following year saw the purging of any
remaining big-name veterans who had become synonymous with the achievements of the
previous decade.

In some cases, Reid found viable replacements. As great as
Tra was, Jason Peters is probably an upgrade. LeSean McCoy is certainly an
adequate replacement for Brian Westbrook to say the least.

In most situations however, he was unable to locate a player’s
equal or superior. Time eroded the once-sound structure the Eagles had under
Andy, and the many-patch jobs were not only incapable of restoring it – they couldn't hold his system together. Take a good, long look at the drop-off in performance at
these seven positions, and it isn’t hard to see why Reid’s success quickly evaporated.

From Donovan McNabb
to Michael Vick

When the Birds shipped an aging McNabb to Washington, we
thought it was in favor of Kevin Kolb, who looked like he might turn into a
decent system quarterback. That lasted all of two quarters of one game. In
comes Vick, who flashed immense talent, but much like he was in Atlanta, is
incapable of sustaining success for any length of time. Say what you want to
about McNabb, but he brought stability to the most
important position on the field for 11 years, while Vick has lacked any consistency at all
whatsoever.

From Jon Runyan to
Todd Herremans

One of the trends you’ll see in several of these examples
is the Eagles actually ran through multiple people. Initially they wanted to
replace Runyan with right guard Shawn Andrews, even though he only played two
games in ’08. When Andrews never saw another down in midnight green again, former
second-round pick Winston Justice stepped up for a couple seasons. Injuries
slowed him at the end of ’10, and he didn’t translate to offensive line
coach Howard Mudd’s scheme, which led to Herremans’ move outside. Herremans was
okay last season, but struggled when he had to be the unit's cornerstone in Peters’ absence.
Runyan was a always rock out there though, a warrior who played at a high level through anything.

From Shawn Andrews to
Danny Watkins

This is more an example of Reid’s drafting ability failing him,
because as is noted above, Andrews only played twice in ‘08. The Eagles landed
Andrews in the first round of ’04, and while thanks to various injuries and
other strangeness he only appeared in 50 games for Philly, he was absolutely
dominant when he was able to get on the field. Fast forward to ’11 when the
front office grabs 26-year-old Watkins in the first round. He doesn’t break the
starting lineup right away, and one season later develops a mysterious “injury”
that keeps him out – although seldom inactive. Same end result, but big difference in
talent and production.

From Sheldon Brown
and Asante Samuel to Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

Philadelphia has had great cornerbacks for as long as Reid has
been here. He inherited Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor, drafted Lito Sheppard
and Sheldon, then signed Samuel while he was at the top of his game. Both Brown
and Samuel were eventually moved in trades, but what’s the big deal? They
signed Asomugha and traded for Rodgers-Cromartie! Of course, neither has been
anywhere near the model of consistency fans had come to expect along the edges, nor even very good for that matter.

From Brian Dawkins to
Kurt Coleman

Dawk was one of the few veterans the front office let get away while there
was still something in the tank. Weapon X didn’t appreciate the open-ended
negotiation of his contract, so as soon as free agency started, he hopped on a
plane and inked a big-money deal in Denver. The Eagles tried home-grown
fifth-rounder Quintin Demps and free agent Sean Jones. They drafted Nate Allen
a season later, and eventually flip-flopped him with Coleman, an undersized,
under-skilled seventh-round pick. Not one of those players had the talent,
intensity, leadership, or instinct Dawkins brought to the table. To be fair,
few players in NFL history have – then again, not one of those players was
able to adequately replace a single one of those qualities, either.

From Jim Johnson to
Todd Bowles

Actually, that’s from Jim Johnson to Sean McDermott to Juan
Castillo to Todd Bowles. The defense has never been the same since we lost
Johnson, who if coordinators made the Hall of Fame would be a first-ballot
entry. Part of that is coaches like Johnson are literally irreplaceable – he was
an amazing innovator who had a knack for squeezing every ounce of ability out
of players. His line of successors has been completely forgettable though, and
while each has been limited in some sense by bad personnel and/or other issues out of their control, not one of them
distinguished themselves in any way. It might as well have been the same anonymous
person under that headset every season for the last four.

"I think anybody who knows me or who has played with or against me along the road here, knows that I am not that kind of player," Manning said, according to a statement released by the Flyers. "I am not out there intentionally trying to hurt people. I'm a guy who plays the game hard and I take pride in that."

Gretzky didn't mind seeing that fire in McDavid, saying competitiveness is part of what makes the great ones great. And he said the targeting comes with the territory of being a superstar. It was something he and Mario Lemieux dealt with, too.

"And Connor, he's going to get tested every night, but this is not new for him," Gretzky said Friday at the NHL board of governors meetings. "He's been tested since he was a kid and then playing junior hockey and now in the NHL and he's always responded and done his part."